Word: tsvangirai
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Defying expectations of a breakdown in talks, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai concluded a power-sharing agreement late Thursday night, raising hopes that the country may be moving to end its long political nightmare. "We have a deal," opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Tsvangirai told reporters as he emerged from a meeting with Mugabe and South Africa's President, Thabo Mbeki, who has been mediating the talks. The news was certainly unexpected: Even late Thursday afternoon, Mugabe had been quoted as saying the two sides were far from agreeing on how to share...
...talks had revolved around a proposal for Mugabe to remain President while appointing Tsvangirai as Prime Minister, but they had been deadlocked over which position would be more powerful. (Tsvangirai's MDC also controls the legislature, having beaten Mugabe's Zanu-PF Party in the parliamentary vote in March.) It was not immediately clear what led to the breakthrough, nor how the balance of power between Mugabe and Tsvangirai will be resolved. Details of the deal are to be released Monday at a formal signing ceremony...
...Neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai is comfortable granting executive power to the other: the opposition leader demanded fresh elections, which he would be confident of winning if the poll were free and fair, while Mugabe threatened to form a Cabinet without the opposition if Tsvangirai rejected his terms. Shortly before the deal was announced, one source close to the talks had said that Mbeki was on the verge of quitting his mediation role on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in frustration. "President Mbeki was fuming, threatening the Zimbabwean leaders that SADC will not be responsible if there...
...According to sources at the meeting, Mbeki, who has been in Harare since Monday in a last-ditch effort to find a compromise, offered a proposal under which Tsvangirai would serve as Prime Minister, chairing a council of ministers charged with formulating government policy. Under the proposal, Mugabe would remain as chairman of the Cabinet, a separate entity, which would review the work of the council of ministers...
...After a meeting between the two sides in Harare, Tuesday, Tsvangirai said there had been a "positive development," indicating that a settlement might be in the works. The talks had earlier appeared to be on the brink of collapse, as both sides balked at a proposal by the South African mediator, President Thabo Mbeki, for an equal power sharing arrangement. For villages like Mutiusinazitsa, relief from hunger may depend heavily on the troubled talks in Harare reaching a positive conclusion...